3.3 The NASCLA Commercial General Building Exam Option

What Is the NASCLA Commercial General Building Exam?

Quick Answer: The NASCLA Accredited Examination for Commercial General Building Contractors is accepted in lieu of the AZ ROC trade exam for the B-1, B-2, KB-1, and KB-2 classifications. It is 115 questions in 330 minutes, open book, and requires 81 correct answers to pass. It is not accepted for the residential B, B-3, or CR-61.

NASCLA is the National Association of State Contractors Licensing Agencies. Its Accredited Examination Program exists so a contractor licensed in several states does not have to sit a separate trade exam in each one: one passing NASCLA score is loaded into NASCLA's National Examination Database (NED) and transmitted electronically to any participating jurisdiction that accepts it.

AZ ROC participates. Its Applying for a License page authorizes the NASCLA Commercial General Building Exam for the KB-1 Dual Building Contractor and KB-2 Dual Residential and Small Commercial classifications, and PSI's B-1/B-2/KB-1/KB-2 content outline extends the same choice to B-1 and B-2: "AZ applicants applying for the B-1 or B-2 General Commercial licenses have a choice of trade exams. They can elect to take either the NASCLA Accredited Examination for Commercial General Building Contractors or the AZ ROC General Commercial exam."

The bulletin's next sentence is the one candidates skip: "There are differences in these exams." They are not two versions of one test.

Which Arizona Classifications Accept NASCLA?

The dividing line is commercial general building versus residential. A separate NASCLA program covers electrical (accepted by Arizona for CR-11, C-11, and R-11 at $116), but that is a different exam and does not help a building contractor.

The Two Exams Are Not Interchangeable

This is the single most consequential fact in this section. The AZ ROC commercial trade exam is a construction-technology test. The NASCLA exam is roughly half business, contracts, and project administration, and it adds building-systems content the AZ ROC exam never touches.

NASCLA Content Outline (115 items)

Read that table against the AZ ROC outline (Concrete 14, Metals 13, Carpentry 12, Safety 12). On the AZ ROC exam, concrete alone outweighs everything NASCLA classifies as concrete, masonry, and metals combined. On the NASCLA exam, Procurement and Contracting Requirements plus General Requirements are 56 of 115 questions — bidding, contracts, submittals, scheduling, payment, closeout, safety programs, and jobsite administration.

A candidate who prepares only from Chapters 11–14 of this guide is prepared for the AZ ROC exam and under-prepared for NASCLA. A candidate who prepares only from Chapters 5–8 is in the opposite position. Choose your exam before you build your study plan.

References and Exam Conditions

The NASCLA exam is open book, and its allowed reference list is far longer than the AZ ROC trade exam's three titles. Highlights from the Arizona NASCLA bulletin dated 1/23/2026:

• NASCLA Contractors Guide to Business, Law and Project Management, Basic 14th Edition — the source of most Procurement/General Requirements items
• International Building Code, 2021 or 2024 — note this is a newer edition than the 2018 IBC used on the AZ ROC exam
• ACI 318-14 or ACI 318-19 (2022), Building Code Requirements for Structural Concrete
• ICC A117.1-2017, Accessible and Usable Buildings and Facilities
• Mechanical and Electrical Systems for Construction Managers, 4th Edition, 2024
• 29 CFR Part 1926, 1926-2023 Edition, or PSI OSHA Excerpts 2025
• Plus roughly twenty more titles covering trusses, steel deck, post-tensioning, masonry, roofing, stormwater (EPA 833R06004), EIFS, and gypsum

Two traps follow from that list:

1. The code edition differs. AZ ROC's exam is scored against the 2018 IBC/IRC. NASCLA's is scored against the 2021 or 2024 IBC. Bringing the wrong edition costs you every code lookup.
2. Reference rules are the same but strict. References may be highlighted, underlined, and indexed, must be otherwise unmarked, may not contain loose or attached papers, and may be tabbed only with permanent tabs. Post-It notes must be removed before the exam begins. NASCLA's bulletin adds a warning the AZ ROC bulletin does not: these references are not supplied at the examination center — you bring them or you go without.

Experimental items work the same way: one to ten unscored questions, roughly 10% of the exam, mixed in and counted against your time.

Fees

AZ ROC states it plainly: "The fee for these exams is $106 plus the $25 application fee. The application fee is paid directly to NASCLA and the examination fee to PSI Exams Online." Total out of pocket is $131 before any Arizona license fees.

Compare that with $66 for a single AZ ROC trade exam. The NASCLA route costs about twice as much and takes 90 minutes longer, and it only pays for itself if you actually intend to license outside Arizona.

The SRE Is Still Required

A common and expensive misconception is that NASCLA replaces both Arizona exams. It does not. NASCLA substitutes for the trade exam only. The Statutes & Rules Exam (SRE) is Arizona-specific law, it can never be waived, and it must still be passed through GMetrix for $61.

Your full sequence with the NASCLA option:

1. Pass the SRE through GMetrix ($61).
2. Apply to NASCLA ($25) and take the NASCLA Commercial General Building exam through PSI Exams Online ($106).
3. Have your result transmitted to AZ ROC through NASCLA's National Examination Database.
4. Submit both results to the ROC with your license application, within two years of passing.

The AZ ROC accepts the Commercial General Building exam specifically. NASCLA also accredits a Residential exam and an Electrical program; a Residential NASCLA score does nothing for a B-1 or KB-1 application.

Choosing Between Them

Choose NASCLA if:

• You intend to license in more than one state that accepts the accredited exam — one score covers all of them.
• Your strength is contracts, estimating, scheduling, and project administration rather than field construction technology, since 56 of 115 items sit there.
• You already own or are willing to buy the 2021/2024 IBC and the NASCLA business guide.

Choose the AZ ROC trade exam if:

• You are applying for the residential B, B-3, or CR-61 — NASCLA is not accepted, so there is no choice to make.
• You only intend to work in Arizona: $66 versus $131, 240 minutes versus 330, and a three-book reference set versus twenty-plus.
• Your strength is field construction — concrete, masonry, metals, and carpentry are 49 of 100 items on the AZ ROC exam and only 21 of 115 on NASCLA.
• Your classification is a specialty (CR-, C-, R-) outside the commercial general building scope.

Quick Answer: NASCLA replaces the AZ ROC trade exam for commercial general building only (B-1, B-2, KB-1, KB-2). It is 115 questions / 330 minutes / 81 correct, costs $106 + $25, is weighted toward contracts and project administration, and never replaces the SRE.